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Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Bitter Steel: Book Review

Bitter Steel by Charles Allen Gramlich, is one of my favorite reads of the year. A collection of previously released short stories and poems, Bitter Steel throws down a gauntlet of both action and tribute to the pulp fantasy masters of yesteryear.

From the back cover~"So come! Gather with me around the fire where the smoke stings our eyes. We’ll listen to the drums beat in time with our hearts. We’ll drink from the common bowl as it passes among us. The darkness whispers outside our camp, but we have no fear. There are heroes among us. Let us hear their tales."

Charles prose and poetry throughout the collection is visceral and enticing. With the first paragraph of the first tale "A Gathering of Ravens" I found myself taken away, wandering the battlefields beside his heroes. It granted that magical feeling that I suppose most writers feel at one time or another of "I want to write something like this..."

The next half dozen tales of Thal Kyrin (and Jys) were even better and I especially enjoyed the climactic fight of "Dark Wind" the resonance of "The Evening Rider" and the originality of ""Wine and Swords" because as Charles mentions, he wanted to write a Sword & Sorcery tale without any sorcery in it. The twists and encounters were well drawn and felt real. I found myself hoping Charles will write more tales of the Earth that has become the planet known as Thanos.

Three humorous stories followed, and while I didn't really care for "Worms in the Earth" (great ending however) and "Mirthgar". I loved "Slugger's Holiday". A pastiche based on Robert E. Howards, brawling sailor Steve Costigan on holiday in Hawaii. As far as pastiches go I thought it was spot on-a real gem. The voice and story would make REH proud.

I'm glad Charles included a little about each tale and poem, I like to know about a short stories genesis and inspiration whenever I like them as much as I did these. You can get a copy HERE.

7 comments:

Thanks for the kind words, David. I'm glad you liked it, especially "Slugger's Holiday," which has been hit or miss with some readers. I've found some who really don't like the dialect stuff. Glad you could appreciate it.

David J. West

David can’t remember a time he wasn’t writing. From
the primordial splash of a drowning
Atlantis to a pair of vigilantes' six-guns blasting raw justice in the
old west. From obsidian tipped arrows raining down on Cumorah’s slopes,
to crusaders'
broadswords sweeping over shadowy terrors, and on to the cold vacuum of
space and the birth of a new star, David is there, recording it all for
your edification and amusement.

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What I'm Reading

The Heroes, by Joe Abercrombie This Crooked Way, by James Enge The Arabian Nightmare, by Robert Irwin The Darkeness that Comes Before, by R. Scott Bakker Tides of War, by Steven Pressfield Night of Knives, by Ian C. Esselmont The Pirate King, by R. A. Salvatore Deadhouse Gates, by Steven Erikson El Borak, by Robert E. Howard Swords Aginst Death, by Fritz Leiber Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch Lord of the Silver Bow, by David Gemmell Bloodstone, by Karl Edward Wagner

Heroes of the Fallen Book Trailer

“An epic tale of valor and degeneracy where heroes are beset on every side by wicked schemers whose plots, like a flood, threaten to drown them all." (Daron D. Fraley, Author of The Chronicles of Gan: The Thorn)